"We'll continue to do that," he said. "I might pick up on something. There might be something in that professor's presentation that will also help me be a better coach."

Willingham joked that he also learned how much math he has forgotten.

Willingham said he and his staff will occasionally take in classes, something he has done in previous stops at Stanford and Notre Dame.

"We want more for them than just to walk across the field and toe the pigskin," Willingham said. "They will be actively involved in that process (of being a student-athlete)."

KIRTON CALL: Running back Johnie Kirton is beginning to see as many repetitions at fullback as at tailback.

Kirton, a 6-foot-3, 280-pounder, is listed at tailback on the pre-spring depth chart, but offensive coordinator Tim Lappano can't help but talk about him as a fullback.

"If he can bend his knees, I can tell you what, there will be some Pac-10 linebackers that are going to be sore on Sunday. He's a load," Lappano said.

Kirton, a redshirt freshman out of Jackson High School, isn't giving up his running dreams for blocking schemes quite yet, though.

"I'm not opposed to the idea (of playing fullback), but I did come to Washington to play running back," he said. "I'll do whatever the coaches want me to do to help the team just so sometimes I can get the rock."

TRANSFER TURMOIL? Spring practice has revealed a very thin cornerbacks corps as the Huskies have just three on scholarship: Matt Fountaine, Kim Taylor and Roy Lewis.

Willingham's first recruiting class was supposed to help, but transfers Chris Handy (Nevada), Qwenton Freeman (Pasadena CC) and Marlon Wood (Pasadena CC) failed to meet academic requirements that would have enabled them to enroll and participate in spring drills.

Now the question becomes, will they be here at all?

"We've had some bumps in the road," Willingham said, refusing to elaborate on specifics. "As of right now they are still scheduled to be here come the fall."